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Gerard

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Posts posted by Gerard

  1. Posted · Report reply

    I am thinking about full timing in the future but am a Canadian from Ontario and would like to know how other Canadians have experienced the lifestyle. How to make sure OHIP coverage is maintained. How to get a cell phone at a reasonable price that will work in both the U.

    S. & Canada. What satellite/internet provider is a good one to use. Any hints or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

  2. Posted · Report reply

    I would be interested in learning more about this. Would it be applicable to Canadian residents? Planning on retiring next May as I'll be 60 years old then. Wife will only be 57. We won't have much income but will have time to enjoy life. Not worrying about how we are going to pay for our medications would be a blessing. How would pre-existing conditions be handled? Lots of questions to be answered.

  3. Posted · Report reply

    It is a marvelous park!! We spent 2 weeks there at the end of April/11. It has all the facilities that you want/need. It was toward the end of the season so most of the Snowbirds were on their way home, but everyone that was there was very friendly. The Tiki bar seems to be the rallying spot. It is about a 1/2 hr from most local sites by car. We do not tow, but we rented while there. I am envious and just wish that I could be there, but unfortunately we still work (ever notice that WORK is a 4 letter word)!!

  4. Posted · Report reply

    You are doing what we are contemplating. Going fulltime that is. We are relative newbies too, with owing a motorhome for the past 4 years. We are loving every minute we can spend in it and long for the days when we are not restricted to 4 weeks holidays per year. We wish you good luck & happy travels. Keep us posted as to how you are enjoying your adventure.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    As stated, it's not 100% predictable.

    With that said, if you are in FL during the hurricane season, be ready to pull up stakes and ride out of town. We live on the Gulf Coast of Texas. With hurricanes you have plenty of waring that they are coming your way. We need to be on the road at least 72 hours before a hurricane hits our area. Why! Well, for Rita we got a 4 hour later start and it took us 15 hours to go 150 miles. Not fun at all, so now we leave 72 hours ahead of time. For Ike, we sailed out of town. There is no way I want to stay in my house, let alone an RV when a hurricane strikes. For Ike, we still go hit where we went with Cat 1 winds, and it was not fun in the MH. We pulled the slides in and rode it out. Then we had 3 days of the generator running before I decided we were going somewhere else with electricity.

    Good luck.

    Living in Ontario, Canada, we don't have many hurricanes and I must admit I don't ever want to experience one. They say to get out of your vehicle and lay flat in a ditch and protect your head with your arms. I'd rather get out of town before it arrives. We do try to keep the gas tank topped up and will be even more vigilant now. I'd like to know I have plenty of gas in case we have to leave and also use the generator for an extended period. Should we keep the fresh water tank topped up as well? We tend to fill it half full to decrease the weight. We really appreciate the information you have given us.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    If you have a laptop computer with web access, add the National Weather Service to your "favorites". Here is the weather service link for the whole country and you can fine-tune it to the area you will be in from this site http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ You can go to the area in which you are traveling and look at the satellite images and warnings. If you put the images into motion, you can tell the direction of the storms and see if heading in your direction.

    Another good one is the "weather underground" which is private weather stations (millions and millions!) all around the country (and the world) with NWS forecasts and radar images, plus real-time weather by city, state or zip code. A nice way to keep in touch with your weather "back home", incidentally. Here is the link: http://www.wunderground.com. (If you pay $10 a year, you can get that site with no ads.) Also, get a weather radio which will alert you (even in the middle of the night) if you have a sudden warning. Keep your kitty cage assembled and carry plenty of gas so you are ready to go any time.

    Information is your best asset! Stay safe!

    I guess we're going to have to get into the 21st century. We don't travel with a computer as we are not computer literate to say the least. That's on our "to do" list since we hope to one day have a nice long trip. It would be nice to see what the weather is like back home and in the surrounding areas. We also have to set up and use the weather radio we bought. We try to find a radio station that has news and weather on it but that is not always possible. I have written down those websites for future use and really appreciate the time you took to answer my questions. Thank you!

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Gerard, welcome to the FMCA forums.

    "...were wondering what we should do if we are in severe weather"

    Not to appear trite, the answer to that question is dependent on who you ask. We all have our thresholds for driving in bad weather. What is yours?

    I enjoy driving in the rain, but not snow and ice -- regardless of vehicle type or size. That said, we recently delayed a trip for one day due to NWS's forecast for "extreme weather" in the area we were in. The next day was sunny and beautiful. We had a great trip. The key for us is keep an eye on the regional and/or national forecasts and travel accordingly.

    If you get into a major thunderstorm and can't see the road, pull as far off the road as possible without getting into soft dirt, and keep all you lights on including the emergency flashers.

    Various Federal agencies have recommended procedures when encountering flooding, tornadoes, blizzards, etc. And sometimes you just cannot avoid stuff for a variety of reasons. But the more trip planning for impending weather, road conditions, town and rest stop locations, fuel stops, etc. you do will result in minimized exposure to varied dangerous conditions.

    Thank you so much for the information. I have driven in snow, sleet, heavy rain, high winds. I don't enjoy that kind of weather and have stopped to wait it out at times. I was wondering if I should have a kit ready in case we have to evacuate the RV. We were in Berrien Springs, Michigan last year when a severe thunderstorm occured. We were in the middle of a field and really didn't know what to do. We have purchased a weather radio (but I must admit we haven't used it yet). We just got back from Florida and drove by a town hit by those awful tornados. Should we have bottled water, our prescriptions, some clothing, money, passports in a bag somewhere? How many days should we allow for? Sorry it took me so long to reply, I'm not very good at using the computer and it took me a while to figure out how to get back to you.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    We are traveling to Florida in the near future and were wondering what we should do if we are in severe weather. We are relatively new RVers and travel with our cat. Should we have a bag packed - and if so - what should be in it? We do have a portable cage to put our cat in but it would need to be assembled first. Any tips would be appreciated.

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